"Controversial as fracking is, Youngstown, Ohio, embraces it as an economic savior – eager to take risks that have even caused the earth to tremble."

"A proposed natural gas export facility in Southern Maryland cleared another hurdle Thursday, when a federal review found the controversial project poses no significant risks to nearby residents' safety and no major environmental impacts."

"TANGIER ISLAND, Va. — As in many places, conversations on this remote island in the Chesapeake Bay tend to steer toward the weather. But here it's not just small talk."

"The crisis-wracked School District of Philadelphia has quietly abandoned a federal agency’s plans for further study of environmental-health risks in its aging school buildings. An initial review found pervasive dampness, mold or water damage — conditions that may aggravate asthma and other respiratory ailments — but the District has refused to make the complete findings public."

"A health registry could show trends of illnesses, collect data and potentially answer the question of whether fracking is safe — a debate currently characterized by emotional arguments with little reliable information."

"Hundreds of West Virginia residents who sought emergency-room care in January were treated for symptoms that were 'consistent' with exposure to MCHM, the primary chemical that leaked from the Freedom Industries tank farm into the region’s Elk River drinking-water supply, according to a review made public Wednesday."